St. Landry democrat., 1887-08-20

| ton and exclamation to express MS de-
votional aspirations. One is just as good
as the other. Every man fully per-
suaded in his own mind"
George Whitefield was going over a
Quaker rather roughly for some of his
religious sentiments, and the Quaker
said: George, am as thou art; am
for bringing all men to the hope of the
Gospel; therefore, if thou will not quar-
rel with me about my broad brim, / will
not quarrel with thee about thy black
gown. George, give me thy hand"
l. In tracing out the religion of secta-
rianism, or bigotry, find that a great
deal of it comes from wrong education
in the home circle. There are parents
who do not think it wrong to caricature
in the world, and denounce other sects
often the case that that kind of edu-
expected, and the children grow up, and,
after while, 60 and see for themselves;
and looking in those churches and find
ing that the people are good there, and
they love God and keep His command
ments, by natural reaction they go and
join those very churches. I could men
of the Gospel who spent their whole life
bombarding other denominations. and
who lived to see their children preach
the Gospel in those very denominations.
But it is often the case that bigotrv
starts in household, and that the sub
ject of it never RECEIVERS. There are
tens of thousands of bigots ten years old.
think sectarianism and bigotry also
rise from too great prominence of any
one denomination in a community. All
the other denominations are wrong, and
his denomination is right because his de-
nomination is the most wealthy, or the
most popular, or the most influential,
| and it is "our" church, and 'our" reli-
gious organization, and "our" choir, and
"our" minister, and the man losses his
head, and wants other denominations to
know their places. 1t is great deal
better in any community when the great
denominations Of Christians are about
equal in power, marching side by side for
the worlds conquest. Mere outside
prosperity, mere worldly power, is no
evidence that the church is acceptable to
God. Better a barn with Christ in the
manger than a cathedral with magniti-
cent harmonies rolling through the
long-drawn aisle, and an angel from
Heaven in the pulpit, if there be no
Christ in the chancel, and no Christ in
the robes. Bigotry is often the child of
ignorance.
You seldom find man with large in
tellect who is bigot. 1t is the man who
thinks he knows great deal, but does
not. That man is almost always bigot.
The whole tendency of education and
civilization is to bring man out Of that
kind of state of mind and heart. There
was in the far East a great obelisk, and
one side of the obelisk was white,
another side of the obelisk was green,
another side of the obelisk was blue, and
travellers went and looked at that obelisk,
but they did not walk around it. One
man looked at one side, another at an
other side, and they came home each one
looking at only one side; and they hap
pened to meet, the story says; and they
got into rank quarrel about the color of
that obelisk. One man said it was white,
another man said it was green, another
man said it was blue, and when they
were in the very heat of the controversy
more intelligent traveller came and said,
"Gentlemen, | have seen that obelisk,
and you are all right and you are all
wrong. Why didn't you walk all around
the obelisk?"
Look out for the man who sees only
one side of religious truth. Look out
for the man who never walks around
about these great theories of God and
eternity and the dead He will be bigot
inevitably-the man who only sees one
side. There is no man more to be pitied
than he who has in his head just one
idea-no more, no less. More light, less
cor Tbaro Il, will
so soon kill bigotry as sunshine-God's
sunshine.
II. So l have set before you what
have set before you the origin of this
great evil. What are some of the bale
full effects First of all it cripples inves-
tigation. You are wrong, and / am right,
and that ends it. No taste for explora-
tion, no spirit of investigation. From
the glorious realm of Gods truth, over
which an archangel might fly from eter-
nifty to eternity and not reach the limit, |
the man shuts himself out and dies, a
blind mole under corn shock. It stops |
all investigation.
While each denomination of Christians
is to present all the truths of the Bible,
it seems to me God has given to each de-
nomination an especial nilsson to give
particular emphasis to some one doctrine;
and so the Calvinistic churches must
present the sovereignty of Goo, and the
Arminian churches must present mans
free agency, and the Episcopal churches
must present the importance of order
and solemn ceremony, and the Baptist
churches must present the necessity of
ordinances, and the Congregational
church must present the responsibility
Of the individual member, and the Meth
odist church must show what holy enthu-
siasm hearty congregational singing can
While each denomination
Of Christians must set forth all the doc
trines of the Bible, feel it is especially
incumbent upon each denomination to
put particular emphasis on some one doc
Lrine.
Another great damage done by the
sectarianism and bigotry of the church
g that it disgusts people with the
Christian religion. Now, my friends,
The church of God was never intended
for war barrack. People are afraid of
a riot You go down the street and you
see an excitement and missiles flying
through the air, and you hear the shock
Of firearms. Do you, the peaceful and
Industrious citizen, 60 through that
street 2 Oh mol uo1, will COW. HT,11 ro